WELCOME The sun is back with a vengeance, but July is filled with the liveliness that characterizes Tuscan summers. Warm evenings draw us outdoors where socialising comes naturally. The streets, piazzas and roof-top terraces shimmer with activity and a party atmosphere prevails. Life turns definitively toward vacation- mode, with weekends and weeknights spent outdoors at concerts, in the streets, and on our terraces enjoying the cooler air of the hills surrounding the sweltering city. And the Italians head to the beach… We hope you find a place to keep cool and enjoy the entertainment, with best wishes from SUZANNE, CORSO, BEI, LESLIE, VANNI, ANNA PIA, RAFFAELLA, AND MARISA. PITCHER & FLACCOMIO PICKS FOR JULY BEST EVENT FOR JULY: SUMMER SEASON OF PERFORMANCES AT THE BARGELLO Text by Mary Gray from The Florentine Magazine “Estate al Bargello returns: Plays, dance performances and concerts in museum courtyard. Estate al Bargello is the umbrella title for 21 shows staged by the theatre group Compagnia Lombardi- Tiezzi, the Florence Dance Festival and the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina. Festival organizers are the Ministero dei beni e delle attività, the Bargello Museum, the Tuscan Region, and the City of Florence's Estate Fiorentina committee, with sponsorship by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and additional support from the Banca CR Firenze. The 2017 edition launched on June 19 with the hybrid play-concert Dagli Appennini alle Ande, one of the stories in Edmondo De Amicis' book Cuore, with a break in programming before the inauguration of the Florence Dance Festival on June 27. Find the full program of dance events at the link listed below. Choreographers give way to conductors with a July 12 event held in collaboration with Italian Brass Week (July 9-16): the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, conducted by Giuseppe Lanzetta, will join brass soloists Frank Lloyd, Otto Sauter, and Alain Trudel in performing music by Gordon Saville, J.M. Molter, and Lars-Erik Larsson. Violin soloist Marco Lorenzini will take the stage on July 13 for an evening dedicated to Vivaldi. 1 Pitcher & Flaccomio Newsletter Copyright 2017 Direttore responsabile Raffaella Galamini - Pubblicazione con iscrizione n. 5697 del 23\01\09 presso il Tribunale di Firenze. Pitcher & Flaccomio - Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia 30 - 50122 - Florence - Italy • Phone +39 055 2343354 • Fax +39 055 5609916 Office Hours: 9am - 5pm (+1.00 GMT) Programming for the remainder of the summer alternates between dance performances and concerts. Start times and ticket prices vary, and both the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina (tel. 055.783374; [email protected]) and Florence Dance Festival (tel. 055.289276; [email protected]) have special offers available for those interested in attending multiple shows. View additional information and showtimes on the Compagnia Lombardi-Tiezzi, Florence Dance Festival, and Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina websites.” P&F RENTAL PICK FOR JULY: A CHARMING APARTMENT WITH AN EXCELLENT KITCHEN IN A CONVENIENT RESIDENTIAL LOCATION Borgo Pinti is tucked in between Santa Croce, piazza D'Azeglio and piazza San Marco and is lined with monasteries and churches on one side and prominent family palaces on the other. One such monastry has its facade by Michelangelo. It is about 15 minutes walk to the Duomo and close to the Sant'Ambrogio outdoor market, Cibreo restaurant and bar, The Four Seasons hotel, a gym and several super markets. There are numerous buses to the station close by and a garage for parking. The apartment has parquet floors throughout and the furniture is modern. The bathroom walls are tiled with a large glassed shower stall. The kitchen cabinets are wood with a dark marble counter top, and the living/dining room and kitchen have large windows. This is a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment that measures approx. 55 sq mts (590 sq. ft), on the 1st floor (28 steps), no elevator, and consists of: Entrance area Living/dining room (table for 4/6) Kitchen 1 bedroom (double bed, not dividable) 1 bathroom (shower stall) 2 Pitcher & Flaccomio Newsletter Copyright 2017 Direttore responsabile Raffaella Galamini - Pubblicazione con iscrizione n. 5697 del 23\01\09 presso il Tribunale di Firenze. Pitcher & Flaccomio - Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia 30 - 50122 - Florence - Italy • Phone +39 055 2343354 • Fax +39 055 5609916 Office Hours: 9am - 5pm (+1.00 GMT) Enjoy the location, light, gym next door, public parking garage close by, and air conditioning. See the website for more information. BEST MUSIC EVENT FOR JULY: 8TH EDITION OF THE MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL AU DÉSERT HELD AT PIAZZA OGNISSANTI July 11-13 From July 11 to 13 Festival au Désert brings to Florence the magic of the encounter in music among distant cultures: a three-day event under the sign of rhythm, reflection and sociality. The Festival au Désert in Florence is a multicultural music project that since 2010 has created a network for contemporary creation among Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe, starting from the collaboration between Festival au Désert in Essakane (Mali) and Fondazione Fabbrica Europa. Along with this festival (which since 2012 has become Caravane pour la Paix due to the war in Mali), a collaboration has been established to develop a network for the production and promotion of new creations that can combine the delicate work of transmitting traditions and nomadic instrumental techniques with the most innovative sounds experimented in the West. Since then the project has favoured a journey to and from Africa, a new Africa that is able to innovate without denying its own story, becoming a “meeting space among cultures” in Florence. There are concerts on every night, along with presentations and displays, and all events are free. See the full program here. BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE FOR JULY: THE MEDICI DYNASTY SHOW IS NOW IN ITS THIRD SEASON Until January 2018 This is just one of those shows. Once you’ve seen it once, you’ll go back again and again, recommending it to all of your friends and visitors to town. A one hour show at 7pm that gives an entertaining and powerful snapshot into the lives of the Medici, through the last of the dynasty, Anna Maria Luisa and Gian Gastone. “A must see for those wondering what to do in Florence, The Medici Dynasty Show is a striking piece of multimedia theatre in English, covering three hundred years of Florence history through the story of the most famous and influential family to ever rule the city. The powerful historical drama transforms the Baroque church of the former convent of Il Fuligno into a room at Palazzo Pitti. Here, the last descendants of the Medici family trace the history of the dynasty that ruled Florence for more than three centuries. Drawing both laughter and tears, Gian Gastone and Anna Maria Luisa, children of Cosimo III, reveal the intrigues of their family relationships, and the Medici patronage behind the greatest works of art ever created during the Renaissance in Florence. The Medici Dynasty Show is an incredible way to learn the history of this fascinating city that draws in people from all over the world, even five centuries later, where you can step directly out of the theatre and discover Florence with new insight.” Bookings and more information: http://medicidynasty.com 3 Pitcher & Flaccomio Newsletter Copyright 2017 Direttore responsabile Raffaella Galamini - Pubblicazione con iscrizione n. 5697 del 23\01\09 presso il Tribunale di Firenze. Pitcher & Flaccomio - Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia 30 - 50122 - Florence - Italy • Phone +39 055 2343354 • Fax +39 055 5609916 Office Hours: 9am - 5pm (+1.00 GMT) BEST EXHIBITION FOR JULY: LAST CHANCE TO SEE BILL VIOLA: ELECTRONIC RENAISSANCE AT PALAZZO STROZZI Until July 23 The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi introduces the Florentine public to Bill Viola. Electronic Renaissance, a significant exhibition celebrating this unchallenged master of video art. A single, comprehensive exhibition occupying both the Piano Nobile and the Strozzina will immerse you in space, music and sound as you track the career of this artist from his early experimental work in the 1970s right up to his monumental installations of the 21st century. Exploring spirituality, experience and perception, Viola probes humanity: people, bodies and faces are the leading players in his work with its poetic and strongly symbolic style in which man interacts with the forces and energies of nature such as water and fire, light and dark, the cycle of life and the cycle of rebirth. But more importantly, the Renaissance setting of Palazzo Strozzi fuels mesmerising interaction between the classic and the contemporary by fostering innovative dialogue between Viola’s work and the masterpieces of the great masters of the past, from which he has drawn his inspiration and which have marked the development of his artistic vocabulary and style. Thus the exhibition is a celebration of Bill Viola’s special relationship with Florence, where his career in video art began when he was technical director of art/tapes/22, a video production and documentation centre, from 1974 to 1976. His bond with Tuscan history and art is further enhanced by the exhibition’s intense interaction with such museums and institutions as the Grande Museo del Duomo, the Gallerie degli Uffizi and the Museo di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, as well as with the cities of Empoli and Arezzo. Daily including holidays 10.00-20.00, Thursdays: 10.00-23.00 Bookings: Tel +39 055 2645155 or [email protected] Information: http://www.palazzostrozzi.org/mostre/bill-viola/?lang=en BEST DINING OUT FOR JULY: MOLO5, FIORINO SULL’ARNO, AND LA TORAIA, POP UP RESTAURANTS WITH LIVE MUSIC ALONG THE ARNO RIVER Hot days means entertaining nights as all the areas along the Arno river come to life with pop up bars, restaurants, and stages for music a-plenty.